04.04.2022 – 2. part And here it is, our great discovery: a lake! We already knew it would be there, but not how great it looked. This shimmering turquoise water, mostly still covered with ice, sparkled between the rather reddish mountains around it. Super beautiful! I don’t know what Son Kul looks like, … Continue reading Hiking Days – highlight, big wall and little grandmaster Read more
04.04.2022 – 1. part The morning started early. And with bad news. The plan was to take a bus or something similar to the turnoff to Son Kul, from there another taxi for something closer and then hike over a high pass to the lake. At the bottom, there should already be a yurt … Continue reading Hiking Days – Alternative, Modern Talking and Diversity Read more
Sept/Oct 2022 When I was in Uttarakhand 27 years ago, it seemed full of wandering saddhus and blessing priests. This time – although approached many more temples – they seemed much fewer in proportion. If only one knew if it was/is actually like that or if one’s perception has changed so much that … Continue reading Travelling in Uttarakhand – afterthoughts Read more
04. – 08.10.2022 Something happened to me that hasn’t happened to me for years. I have hardly taken any photographs. Yet the country is full of motifs! But I didn’t see anything any more. I didn’t want to look for it any more. Even during the trip I didn’t have much time to … Continue reading Trip’s finish – Tangles, Sniffles and little tears Read more
02. + 03.10.2022 Better dressed now, I went to the temple with these many many people. Many of them joined the long queue for the inside of the temple. Not me, I just walked around outside for a few pictures. The temple was nicely decorated and you could also see nicely decorated/painted saddhus … Continue reading Kedarnath Trip – temple, mountains, tents and more horse Read more
01. + 02.10.2022 There is one temple that belongs to both pilgrimages (Panch Kedar and Chota Dham Yatra) and that is Kedarnath. In the pandava legend, where the different parts of Shiva’s body were housed in temples, this is the one for the torso. I’ll talk about the temple and all the stories … Continue reading Kedarnath Trip – arrival, overwhelming and horse Read more
29. + 30.09.2022 We were down again quite quickly from our hike, packed the motorbike with the temporarily stored luggage and headed for the next village. On the map it looked like Urgam would be the perfect destination for the day, which is south of Joshimat up a 20 km side road up … Continue reading Urgam – temple, plants and homestay Read more
26.09.2022 Incredible! The sky was actually blue in the morning! The world looked completely different. So we quickly packed, had breakfast and hopped on the bike. First we went down in curves so that we could cross the Alaknanda River. Luckily we were on the road before the big rush and … Continue reading Joshimat -> Badrinath – road, temple and crowds Read more
28. + 29.09.2022 One of the climbers said he was here for the second time and would definitely get up at 4:00 for the big climb. That seemed a bit excessive, so we set the alarm for 5:00 and set off around 6:00. Binodh said that if you want it to … Continue reading Hemkund Sahib Trek – cold lake, warm blankets and food Read more
27.09.2022 For a change from the day tours and the Hindus, we headed for another destination: Hemkund Sahib. This is the highest Gurudwara (something like temple) of the Sikhs. The altitude differs quite a bit, I stick to 4,200 m for me. The starting point is the village of Govindghat at an altitude … Continue reading Hemkund Sahib Trek – 1. ascent, Sikhs and differences Read more